Final MeetingThe Sure2GRiP final meeting and demonstration took place at the old Parsonage Hotel and at Drax power station over the period 24 to 27 July 2007. Despite some slight gremlins in the hardware, the robotic scanner was successfully demonstrated in a field environment. The project had proved very challenging but major steps forward had been taken in all the main areas. The project reports are currently being written and the results will be disseminated in due course.
18 Month MeetingThe Sure2GRiP 18 month Progress and Review Meeting will be held on 26th October at TWI Wales, Port Talbot. The purpose of the meeting is to review progress and discuss any necessary changes to the workplan. The use and dissemination plan will be updated. The Meeting is open to Sure2GRiP paricipants only.
Sure2GRiP is collaboration between EU companies and research organisations with the objective to develop a set of mechanised
Non-destructive Evaluation (NDE) techniques, sensors and systems that determine the Quality Assurance and Structural
Integrity of production and 'in-service' glass fibre reinforced plastic (GRP) pipe joints. GRP is commonly used in
piping applications for offshore platforms and 'Floating Production Storage and Offloading' (FPSO) vessels. GRP pipe
work is also used in a number of safety critical systems. Flaws in the fibres and the matrix affect the structural integrity
of GRP. These can be created in the form of build damage (BD) during the installation process (weak bonds in adhesive joints);
in-service as accidental damage (AD), when impact with solid objects at high speed can create a particularly undesirable
defect termed Barely Visible Impact Damage (BVID), for the reason that the signs of significant internal damage are barely
visible at the surface; or through environmental degradation (ED) in service (e.g. UV exposure and salt water osmosis) where
despite an inherent resistance to corrosion, extreme environment can cause the plastic and bonds to deteriorate.
The combination of these damage mechanisms and the particular inhomogeneous material properties are specific to GRP and are accompanied by unique inspection requirements, especially given the unique access problems when inspecting offshore installations. The vast array of proven NDT inspection techniques that exists for defects in traditional engineering materials are not available for those that seek a competitive advantage through the use of GRP materials. Furthermore, the existing limited NDT techniques are applied manually; further diminishing their usefulness as operator subjectivity and fatigue drastically decreases the probability of defect detection.
This project will address these issues by developing four non-destructive testing inspection prototypes that can be fully automated with the objective of offering complete quality assurance and structural evaluation of GRP pipes and pipe joints.